Chapter 172
Chapter 172: Star Disk
Wang Jie looked at Du Xian. “Revive Pill, Thunder Sealing Pill, combined price: 220 million Starstones. Not a single Starstone less?”
Du Xian smiled warmly. “You’re a big client, of course, I can offer a discount. 20% off.”
Wang Jie nodded in satisfaction. “That’s more like it.”
“But it depends if you need it,” Du Xian added.
“What do you mean?”
Du Xian lowered his voice. “I can give you some information for free, or you can opt for the discount. It’s up to you.”
Wang Jie didn’t hesitate. “I’ll take the discount.”
Du Xian was speechless. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure.” Having been tricked twice before, Wang Jie was certain that the information wouldn’t be worth as much as the money saved by the discount.
Du Xian sighed. “Alright, what else do you need?”
“I’ll purchase the information you’re offering for free.”
Du Xian: “…”
As a merchant who prided himself on being fair, Du Xian could only deceive with words, not prices. So, he gave a fair price—10 million Starstones.
Wang Jie was pleased. With the discount, he saved 44 million Starstones. After deducting the cost of the information, he still made a profit of 34 million Starstones. Perfect.
Fortunately, he didn’t use the discount for the information.
The information Du Xian provided was simple: Su Le is Bai Ye Tian’s disciple.
This information was useful, but not necessarily groundbreaking. It depended on how Wang Jie viewed it.
The value of the information was definitely 10 million Starstones because it involved Bai Ye Tian, a secret known only to a few in Zhi Academy, apart from figures like Xu Yang and Master Bian.
Wang Jie and Su Le had both heard the same musical instrument, which made Su Le hold Wang Jie in awe.
Hmm, this could be useful.
“Thanks, goodbye.”
Du Xian watched Wang Jie leave, feeling a bit helpless. It would no longer be so easy to trick him in the future.
After purchasing the pills, Wang Jie next sought to buy some defensive items.
Star Dome Trading House had them, but he didn’t feel it was professional enough. He preferred a specialty store.
So, he found Shi Jia.
Shi Jia was pleased that Wang Jie came to buy equipment and recommended many items. Eventually, Wang Jie bought a Thousand Spirit Armor.
This Thousand Spirit Armor was forged from seventh-grade materials. It could resist attacks from a Hundred Star Realm expert. Additionally, it could be imbued with Star Force to become a Star Artifact, but since it lacked a Celestial Refinement Master to imbue it, it was being sold as ordinary equipment.
That was just right for Wang Jie, who cultivated Lock Force. A Star Artifact wasn’t suitable for him.
After a discount, it cost 50 million Starstones.
“If it were a Star Artifact, how much would it sell for?”
Shi Jia replied, “It would be a Four Tribulation Star Artifact, at least over 100 million.”
“Such a big difference? Why not find a Celestial Refinement Master to imbue it?”
Shi Jia chuckled bitterly. “There aren’t many Celestial Refinement Masters. The few in our Fourth Star Cloud are all in Black White Heaven. They don’t come to Zhi Academy. Even if they did, the price for a Four Tribulation Star Artifact would be more than the difference, which is not worth it for us. We wouldn’t be able to sell it anyway, so we have to sell it as regular equipment.”
“Master knows, this is Zhi Academy. No one here would buy a Four Tribulation Star Artifact.”
Wang Jie understood. Shi Jia had good materials but couldn’t forge a Star Artifact. Unable to sell the materials, he simply forged regular equipment instead.
That worked out well for Wang Jie.
Next, Wang Jie went to Xiao Jian Mu to buy a formation book.
A formation was also a life-saving tool. The formation he was looking for should at least be able to withstand an expert from the Wandering Star Realm, and its battle power should not be low.
Xiao Jian Mu warmly greeted him and recommended several formation books, but none were satisfactory.
Either the battle power was too low—like 100,000, 150,000, or at most 200,000 combat power—or it was too high. There were formation books that could resist Hundred Star Realm experts, but their prices were astronomical.
Xiao Jian Mu took out one formation book. “This one can meet your needs, but the cost-performance ratio is low, and it’s overpriced.”
Wang Jie looked at it. “Time Space Corridor?”
“This Time Space Corridor is a formation book that involves the forces of time and space. As you know, once it involves these two forces, the price doubles. But this formation itself isn’t very powerful. It can barely trap a 300,000 combat power Wandering Star Realm expert. It’s one of those formations that’s neither too high nor too low, but because of the time and space forces, it’s priced too high. That’s why it’s still here.”
Wang Jie took it. 300,000 combat power from the Wandering Star Realm? That seemed appropriate.
“How much?”
“330 million.”
Wang Jie’s hand shook. “How much?”
Xiao Jian Mu sighed. “That’s the price set by the seller, not me. But if you want it, you can take it for 300 million.”
Wang Jie was speechless. A Four Tribulation Star Artifact costs about 100 million Starstones, and yet this Wandering Star Realm-level formation book was 300 million? What a bold price. No wonder no one bought it.
Very few people at Zhi Academy could afford it.
Xiao Jian Mu put the book back, sighing. “Actually, many people are interested in it, hoping to study the forces of time and space through this formation book. But the price scares them off. It’s unfortunate.”
Wang Jie’s mind sparked. “You can study the forces of time and space through this?”
Time and space were absolutely powerful forces.
Not just the Full Star Realm or Wandering Star Realm, even Hundred Star Realm experts seldom heard of them.
These forces could only be touched by cultivators above the Star Refining Realm.
What if he could cultivate this early? His battle power would be completely different.
Xiao Jian Mu nodded. “You can feel it. Didn’t you feel a tingling sensation in your palm when you touched the formation book just now? That’s a sign of unstable time and space.”
“I’ll buy it.” Wang Jie said.
Xiao Jian Mu was surprised and even a bit pleased. “You really want to buy it? I must remind you, even if you can feel the forces of time and space at all times, it doesn’t mean you can cultivate them. In fact, it’s unlikely you will succeed in cultivation.”
He was so honest.
Wang Jie still bought it. The opportunity to touch time and space forces was rare. Besides, he had plenty of Starstones. If it didn’t work out, he could sell it later, and even if he lost money, it didn’t matter.
Another 300 million Starstones spent.
After this trip, his Starstones were nearly gone. He needed to quickly sell the Explosive Star Pill to Du Xian and get some money back.
Just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of something.
He focused on a corner of the shop, where he saw the flow of Qi—quite strong Qi, at that.
Slowly walking over, his gaze fixed on a Star Disk.
This Star Disk was the size of a palm, with a needle pointing and various engravings on its surface. It was covered in dust, indicating it had been there for a long time, but the Qi inside was still abundant, occasionally flowing, just enough for him to notice.
“What is this?”
Xiao Jian Mu said, “This was placed here by someone else for sale. It’s been here for quite a while. I don’t understand it either, especially not why it’s priced so high.”
Wang Jie was speechless. He pointed to the Star Disk. “How much?”
Xiao Jian Mu hesitated, then said, “Master, this item really has no use. It’s been gathering dust here. You might as well not ask about it. Let’s go. I’ll definitely contact you when I get something good.”
Wang Jie picked up the Star Disk, wiped off the dust, and said, “I feel connected to it. Don’t you think we’re a perfect match?”
Xiao Jian Mu suddenly realized—it was a perfect match for a fortune teller to use a Star Disk.
“Even if it’s a match, it’s still not worth 100 million Starstones.”
“How much?”
“One… one hundred million.” Xiao Jian Mu was embarrassed to say it himself. The truth was, he didn’t even know what it was used for, so why the outrageous price? But the customer had set the price, so there was nothing he could do.
Wang Jie silently put the Star Disk back on the shelf.
Xiao Jian Mu smiled. “Don’t worry, Master. I have regular customers who consign items. When something good comes in, I’ll definitely let you know.”
“You sell equipment like an auction house? Why do people leave their things with you for consignment?”
“It’s normal. Many people don’t know how to sell things they find. They can’t open a store, and auction houses charge high fees, with many items failing to sell. If something doesn’t sell, it takes a long time for the next auction, so they come to me. Many stores in Four Path Marketplace accept consignment items.”
“Aren’t you afraid your shop will shut down and run off?”
“Consignment has to go through Four Path Marketplace certification. We pay a fee to Four Path Marketplace, so if I run off, they have to compensate. No one runs off. Four Path Marketplace is quite influential in Zhi Academy.”
Wang Jie understood. It was like dividing the fees that would go to an auction house into three parts—one for the shop, one for Four Path Marketplace, and one for himself, saving money and still being guaranteed.
“This Star Disk was initially placed in an auction house, but after failing to sell three times, the auction house refused to accept it, so it was left with me.”
“What about the Time Space Corridor?”
“That’s also failed three times at auction.”
Wang Jie looked at the Star Disk again. So most of the items in this store were ones the auction house didn’t want. No wonder the auction house was the first choice—after all, people who could afford to enter an auction had money. In a store, anyone could walk in.
“I’ll buy it.”
“Really?” Xiao Jian Mu couldn’t believe it.
Wang Jie paid directly. This Star Disk was not negotiable. As Xiao Jian Mu said, the person who consigned it was very stubborn—100 million Starstones, not a single Starstone less.
And that was it.
Wang Jie realized he had spent all his money.
He couldn’t help but think back to when he first gave Jiang You Sheng a Celestial Refinement, costing just 10,000 Starstones. That seemed incredibly cheap now.
Leaving Xiao Jian Mu’s shop after countless thanks, Wang Jie returned to his place and immediately began studying the Star Disk.
After all, he had just spent 100 million Starstones on it.
Several days later, Wang Jie roughly figured out how the Star Disk worked. It required inputting Qi to activate it. Once Qi was entered, it could display the quantity of Qi within a certain range, with the range determined by how much Qi was input.
This thing could actually detect Qi within a certain range, without the need to see it directly.
What a great tool.
No wonder it hadn’t sold—probably because most people didn’t even know about Qi in this Fourth Star Cloud.
He input his Qi into the Star Disk and watched as the detection range expanded in rings. Each ring represented a different area. The Star Disk’s map kept shrinking as the range grew.
He saw a vast amount of Qi not far from his shop, likely representing a Wandering Star Realm expert. He expanded the range further and found another Wandering Star Realm expert.
Most of the people around his shop were Ten Seal cultivators, with a few Star Breaking Realm and Full Star Realm experts.
Everyone had Qi, and there was plenty of Qi from the Wandering Star Realm, but they couldn’t see it or use it.
Wang Jie couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They were missing a powerful force.